Welcome!
A sampler platter to get you started
Hello there,
As lots of new subscribers have recently joined this newsletter, I wanted to take a moment to say hello and offer a quick (re)introduction to The Murmuration.
My name is Grace. I’m a writer, book editor and imagination activist living in the UK. I’m 32 and can regularly be found baby-wrangling my one year old or sourcing illicit cheesestrings for my daughter. Before having children I worked for a big five publisher as a commissioning editor. I now write and edit books on a freelance basis. If you’d like to work with me, send me an email via my website. You can also find me yabbering away on Instagram and Tiktok.
I started The Murmuration two years ago, and generally publish an essay every other Thursday. The topics I cover are broad, but are loosely connected by these questions:
How should we live during this time of polycrisis?
What imaginative tools and ideas will we need for the future?
And what is the role of creativity repairing our world?
To get a better taste of my writing, I’ve put together a little smörgåsbord of my favourite essays from the past two years - happy reading!
On creative living
Little Altars Everywhere: Finding peace in Cambridge with Monet and Jim Ede
The Imaginative Idea: What Writing and Sculpture have in Common
Everything is Connected: Books, Banks and the Job of the Writer
Rebel Wisdom from Sister Corita Kent: Alternate Ways of Seeing the World
On culture and books
The Kingdom of Illness: KateGate, Audre Lorde and broken Britain
Taylor Swift VS Sally Rooney: Which artistic legacy will age like milk?
Spiral Time: On controlling chaos and recovery from depression
On climate
On the Nature of Transition: And why it’s so hard to spot
Nothing is Sacred: Thoughts on Mad Men and Earth Day
Paradise Regained? John Milton, Just Stop Oil and Olivia Laing
Doomerism is Dead: Long Live the Imagination!
On Palestine
And This Tiny Eggplant? On Allotments, Land and Digging as Resistance
Is Now a Good Time? How to Protest a Genocide
Just Keep Your Eyes on the Game: Weeding with my Daughter
On parenting and motherhood
The Living Room: A Birth Story
Postpartum is Forever: On time and life after birth
Polycrisis Parenting: Yes, I packed the cheestrings
On spirituality
Befriending our Mortality: Do you guys every think about dying?
When I avoid talking about God: She turns up anyway
Where Does it Hurt? On the Suffering of Others
Sweating Profusely: In a Room Full of Old People
Protest as Prayer: Interceding in a hot mess
On politics
Hitting Refresh on Hope: The Dangers of Platitude
The Possibility of Love: Holding on in times of Bigotry and Darkness
Existing Outside of Capitalism: A brief list of humans Being, not Doing
Move Slowly and Mend Things: Thoughts on Repair in a Time of Destruction
How is The Murmuration funded?
90% of my work is written and published for free.
My small band of amazing paid subscribers are the people who facilitate this. They chip in less than £5 a month each to support my writing and enable me to share it with you all. Although some of my older newsletters are paywalled, I now try to keep everything free to access.
If you value my work (both here and on my other platforms) then becoming a paid supporter to my substack is the best way to support me. If you are able, do consider upgrading your subscription today.
Thank you for subscribing! If this is the first email you’ve received from me then do say hello in the comment section.
Otherwise, I’ll see you on the internet!
Grace
Lovely to see your Lively work
Thank you.
Hi I am Duncan in Scotland and Liz from your old hangout in London has given me a subscription. This is fab. Im not a writer but one of my best friends is. It's a great gift.. I am working on a book for a couple of years time. More to say but thanks poly crisis is exactly where my work, volunteer work and life is at